Grid operator plans €16 bln link from offshore wind parks to German industry hub

Electricity transmission system operator (TSO) Amprion announced plans to build power lines to bring electricity from wind turbines in the North Sea to consumers in power-hungry western Germany. The energy corridor, nicknamed “Windader West”, has a transfer capacity of eight gigawatts (GW) to bring offshore wind power to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia by 2036 (first 2GW to be ready from 2032). “Amprion is making a significant contribution to the efficient and rapid conversion of the energy system in order to bring large amounts of wind energy to North Rhine-Westphalia,” Amprion offshore head Peter Barth said. The TSO is now searching for a course for the underground cables, which will largely run in parallel “to bring the project into harmony with people, nature and the environment and to minimise impairments on site,” project manager Eric Zieschang said. Total investment volume will be between 16 and 18 billion euros, according to a report by newswire dpa.

Germany must build new electricity transmission lines as well as expand renewable energy sources to achieve its aim of covering 80 percent of its power demand from renewable sources by 2030. For the production of offshore wind power in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, offshore grid connection systems are needed to connect wind farms at sea with the power grid on land. Amprion is one of four grid operators in Germany and manages about 11,000 kilometres of power lines. The planned connections are part of the country's official electricity grid planning. TSOs in June 2023 submitted the second draft of the grid development plan 2037/2045 to the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), which now has to approve it.